Tech & AI News Roundup — October 2, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

Quick links to what's actually happening in AI, tech, and IT right now — curated from real reporting, not rewritten, so you can go read the full story wherever it's genuinely worth your time.

Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery to become Skydance

The roughly $110 billion deal is expected to close October 6. — TechCrunch

Dots get up in Muse’s business

OpenAI's answer to Muse arrived this week, and it looks a whole lot like Muse dressed up in a suit and tie. Dots is a business-first product - for now, at least - costing a minimum of $100 per month. And sure, you can make a cute little Dot character, just like you can make a cute little Muse character. But OpenAI's early marketing is all about how you can use it to do Business Things: launch webs — The Verge

Pope Leo XIV is not a fan of AI-generated art

"There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," the pope wrote. "Algorithms lack the spark of humanity." — TechCrunch

Google Wallet not working on your Pixel? 4 ways to fix tap-to-pay

Some Pixel users are having tap-to-pay problems, and there’s no fix from Google yet. But here a few things that helped others. — ZDNet

Trump’s Crazy AI Rebrand Was a Loyalty Test for Tech Execs—and It Worked

For years these billionaires gushed obsessively about AI. But they meekly went along when Trump cancelled the term. — Wired

The 7-year-old Nvidia Shield TV is now $100 more expensive thanks to AI

Initially launched in 2019, the Nvidia Shield TV Pro now retails for $299.99. — Ars Technica

Tesla will now let you drive off mid-charge if there’s an emergency

Tesla introduced a new feature to enable drivers to escape quickly while charging their vehicles in response to a mass shooting at a Supercharger location in Idaho in August that left seven people wounded and four dead. When a Tesla vehicle is charging, the plug is locked to the charging port and driving is disabled. To put the car in drive, a charging cable has to be manually released from the ve — The Verge

QuickBooks Free: How Automatic Expense Sorting Works

QuickBooks Free automatically sorts business and personal transactions. Here’s how the $0 plan handles expense tracking and where manual review still matters. The post QuickBooks Free: How Automatic Expense Sorting Works appeared first on TechRepublic. — TechRepublic